2/5 stars. But 5/5 for pure, uncut 1992 absurdity.
Highlights include:
When asked about this in his 2023 documentary Sly , Stallone laughed ruefully: "I think I got snookered. I think that was a plan to get me to do a movie that was... very difficult. And it worked." Stop- Or My Mom Will Shoot
This humiliation extends to the film’s treatment of domestic space. Joe’s bachelor apartment, a symbol of masculine freedom, is systematically feminized: curtains, potted plants, and crocheted blankets appear. The film presents this domestication as a joke, but it never questions whether Joe’s original hyper-masculine state was desirable. Thus, the narrative traps Joe between two impossible positions: the lone, violent hero (obsolete) and the henpecked son (ridiculous). 2/5 stars
Casting Estelle Getty was, on paper, a brilliant marketing move. She was a household name, a Tony winner, and the sassiest senior citizen on television. However, film is a different medium than a three-camera sitcom. The energy Getty brought to The Golden Girls —rapid-fire delivery and raunchy one-liners—required a live studio audience to truly land. I think that was a plan to get me to do a movie that was
Stallone’s performance isn't just "bad"; it is visibly exhausted. He plays Joe Bomowski with a perpetual look of constipation, reacting to Getty’s antics not with the timing of a comedian, but with the irritation of a man who knows he is slumming it. It is a performance devoid of charm, which is the kiss of death for a romantic-comedy-action hybrid.
Roger Ebert gave it half a star, stating there "isn't a laugh in this movie". Razzie Sweep: